be iftetropolis.
Many of the leading people in the City met on Tuesday, in the Guild- hall, at the summons of the Lord Mayor, to consider the proposed alteration of the Corn-laws. The immense building was nearly filled before the appointed hour. At one o'clock, the Lord Mayor entered the Hall, accompanied by the Members for the City, Sir Matthew Wood, Mr. Grote, Mr. Pattison, Mr. Crawford, and the following gentlemen— Messrs. J. Morris, (Director of the Bank of England,) Ralph Ricardo, Gregson, Larpent, Geldstaues, C. Perkins, W. Wilkinson, Travers, B. Wood, Heppe!, Dillon, W. M. Christy, H. Prescott, (Director of the Bank of England,) C. P. Grenfell, (Director of the Bank of England,) Ashurst, Wansey, Fearon, D. Richardson, Amory, Colonel Bristow, Norman, Hawes, Forster, Start, Nicholson, Brown, Prevost, T. H. Hall, R. Taylor, J. Robertson, Cumming, Pease, M. Prendergast, and others. The speakers were very unanimous in favour of the Govern- ment palicy. Mr. Grote approved it too, but would go further; and the meeting seemed quite disposed to go with him- " The Chancellor of the Exchequer proposes a fixed duty of 8s. as an im- provement on the present system, and his proposition shall have my most cordial support ; but I cannot conceal from you, that it does not effect all for the corn-trade which I think ought to he done. (Cheers.) The less the duty is made, the better I shall be pleased; and I think the best plan of all is to have no duty at all. (Loud cheers, and laughter.) Gentlemen, in my opinion, a fixed duty of 8s. is much to be preferred to the present system of what is called a sliding scale; which, as we all know very well, is nothing more than a system of gambling. (Great cheers, and cries of "Nothing more ! ") But I hope, gentlemen, we are not to look upon the duty as invested with the pri- vilege of finality. (Cheers, laughter, and cries of "No, no !") 1 hope we are to look upon it only as a temporary expedient to secure the landlords during the transition from the present system of monoply to one of perfect free trade."
The following resolution was adopted unanimously-
" That a free and liberal policy iu the legislation of this country, particularly in those laws and regulations which affect its agriculture and commerce, has become more than ever necessary, from the extent of our population, the state of our revenue, the manufacturing rivalry of other nations, and the increased knowledge and enlightenment of the people. That this meeting, therefore, highly approves of the proposed alteration in the existing Corn-laws."
At the close of the proceedings, says the Morning Chronicle, on the proposal of a gentleman on the platform, "three tremendous and pro- longed cheers were given for Lord John Russell."
The British and Foreign Temperance Society held a meeting in Exeter Hall on Monday evening. The chair was taken by Earl Stan- hope. Mr. Rundle, M.P., and Mr. William Martin of Cork, the asso- ciate of Father Mathew, were among the company on the platform. Lord Stanhope, in the course of a speech lauding temperance, depre- cated Teetotalism, and especially a certain Anti-Tobacco-Teetotal-Tem- perance Society : he confessed that he could not see what tobacco had to do with temperance. He praised Father Mathew, who has converted 5,000,000 in Ireland ; and again reverting to the troublesome Teeto- tallers, said that he had been applied to for aid in forming a Teeto- tallers Insurance Company, schools, and other institutions ; but he had refused to act on such exclusive principles. Mr. Rundle borrowed an illustration of the advantages of temperance from the Indian armies : Lord William Bentinck had abolished flogging in the Native army, but not in the British : the British soldiers get drunk, the Hindoos do not. A member of the Society made a financial statement, complaining much of deficient means : the Society had had only 9501. to support eight agents for a whole year. The discussion seems then to have turned on small beer. Mr. Jefferies, F.R.S., advocated the use of alcoholic stimu- lants under medical advice. Lord Stanhope differed from him, and contended that even small beer was injurious ; in proof of which, he said the Bavarian peasants, whose beer was proverbially weak, would drink often in one hour as much as ten quarts, and others had been known to take sixty in the same time. Mr. William Martin denounced small beer with a fervour and strength of brogue that made some of his bearers laugh.
The grand display of the Teetotal and Temperance Societies took place on Monday. The abstemious folks, as in duty bound, made a goodly show of neatness and propriety of behaviour ; the wives and daughters joining in the processions, as well as the men. Several took excursions on the river, in steam-boats ; others went into the country by land, in covered vans.
There was a fair at Greenwich, ter the holyday people ; and the fine
weather drew immense crowds. The scene is thus described by one of the caterers of news for the Times— "There is no doubt that more than 200,000 persons visited Greenwich dur- ing the day. The trains on the railway were running every quarter of an hour, and the number of personages who proceeded to Greenwich by this con- veyance could not have been less than 20,000. But the most extraordinary scene was on the river. A great deal has been said from time to time about the over-crowding of the steamers during the holydays, and the reckless cupidity of steamboat proprietors, who cram their vessels in a very alarming manner. Yesterday, the wharfs were besieged with people, and steamer after steamer carried away the Londoners by hundreds and thousands. Some vessels were packed with 500 human beings, others with 1,000, and a few of the larger ones with 1,400 and 1,500 passengers. There were not less than forty steamers engaged in carrying the holyday folks to and from Greenwich, and as they proceeded up and down the river, they raised a tremendous swell; the Thames was like a rough sea all day. The Royal Sovereign took down 1,400 passengers at one trip on Sunday, and yesterday the number on board at one time exceeded that quantity. The vessel is a very large one, with spacious decks; and closely packed as the passengers were, they were not put to so much inconvenience as 300 or 400 would have been in the small vessels. The Fame, a Ramsgate steam-vessel, took 1,000 on several occasions during the last two days. The old steam towing-vessels, and some which have been laid up for years, had a fresh coat of paint given them, and were put in requisition for the conveyance of passengers. W ith some of those old tugs the voyage to Greenwich occupied two and three hours. The Gravesend and Woolwich steamers were also crowded, and took down large freights of passengers; but the watennen whose boats used to be so much in requisition during the Easter and Vhitsuntide holydays, arc no longer thought of, and they looked idly on bewailing the want of fares, and pondering on the mighty powers of steam.'
A public meeting was held on Saturday evening, at the Horns Tavern, Kennington, for the purpose of petitioning the Government and the House of Commons to form a Park in the South of London. The following resolution was carried unanimously- " That the meeting witnessed with much pleasure the regard shown by the Government and the House of Commons for the health, conning, and enjoy- ment of the inhabitants of the East cud of the Metropolis, by the establish- ment of a spacious Park ; and were impressed with the necessity of a similar improvement in the South of London ; where, by the density of the neigh- bourhood, and by the speedy occupation of all vacant places for the purpose of building, all classes were likely to be deprived of needful air, exercise, and recreation."
A Committee was formed to draw up a petition and to confer with Lord Normauby and Lord Duncannon on the subject.
In the Court of Queen's Bench, on Monday, judgment was given in the ease of Paul versus Jones, an action of trespass to try whether Ely Place, Holborn, which was once part of the Bishop of Ely's property, was within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners for lighting and paving, by the provisions of the Act 5 George IV. c. IS, or whether it was merely a private place subject only to the control of the resident inhabitants. Lord Denman, with whom the other Judges agreed, said—" There can be no doubt that this is a private place, in the same way as if it was still occupied by the Bishop's palace. Though it is now occupied by several parties instead of one, it is still a place not dedicated to the public, nor subject to the interference of the public."
In the Consistory Court, on Thursday, Dr. Nichol! applied for a mo- nition to the Churchwarden and parishioners of Braintree, Essex, call- ing upon them to show cause why they should not assemble in vestry and make a rate for the repairs of the parish-church, and other lawful expenses. Dr. Nicholl cited the Headcorne case, in which the Dean of the Arches had granted a monition under circumstances similar to those of the present case. lir. Lushington said he had not been aware of such a case, and would look into it. He would reserve his decision till the next court-day.
At the Mansionhouse, on Monday, Captain Harvey Tuckett, who lately fought a duel with Lord Cardigan, was charged with assault. Mr. Owen Worsley, a saddler, stated that on Saturday night, at Green- wich, he got into one of the carriages on the railroad, for the purpose of coming to town. He was not seated a minute, when Captain Tuckett entered the same carriaoe, and asked him with a coarse expression whether lie ever got a good licking ? He replied that he never had ; upon which the Captain gave him a blow in the face. When the train reached town, be gave the Captain in charge of the policeman at the station. Mr. John Clarke, a passenger in the same carriage, corrobo- rated Mr. NVorsley's account. Captain Tuckett was sober ; but some others who accompanied him were intoxicated. In his defence, Captain 'Puckett said, that on going to the station at Greenwich, he put his head into one of the first carriages, and called to his friends who had accompanied him, to know whether they were inside. One of the persons within cried, "Yes, we are here!" and he entered the carriage. His friends were not in it ; and Mr. Worsley and Mr. Clarke began to laugh at the joke. Irritated at such offensive conduct, he certainly gave Mr. Worsley a slap on the face. Mr. Worsley declared that be had made no observation to Captain Tuckett, nor spoken a word before he received the blow. Alderman Pirie said, it appeared to him that there had been a great deal of provocation received by Captain 'Puckett ; but at the same time he had no right to take the law into his own hands. However, the affair was out of the Alderman's jurisdiction, and so he should not in- terfere. Mr. Worsley offered to take no further proceedings at any other office, if Captain Tuckett would apologize ; but Alderman Pirie interposed, saying that he should not recommend the Captain to make any apology. Captain Gordon and Captain Elwin, friends of Captain Tuckett, were then charged with assaulting the policeman who arrested him, in an at- tempt at rescue. They, on the other hand, charged the policeman with violence ; and their allegation was corroborated by Mr. George Soames, of Austinfriars : the policeman struck both the gentlemen, though they made no attempt to rescue the Captain ; and he did all be could to provoke them to a breach of the peace. Alderman Pirie asked the policeman if he saw the assault? The policeman said that he had not ; but he saw the mark on Mr Worsley's face, and thought be was justi- fied in taking Captain Harvey into custody, Alderman Pirie observed, that if any assault bad been committed, it had been committed in ano- ther county., and the policeman had greatly exceeded his duty in arresting Captain Tuckett. Mr. Whittle Harvey, the Commissioner of
Police, would know how to deal with him. The Alderman discharged all the defendants.
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